***ATI Radeon 9800 (9600/9200) PRO PREVIEWED*** (Post Previews HERE)

[GTaudiophile]

From Anandtech

From HardOCP

From Beyond3D

---------------------------

From NordicHardware

From ExtremeTech

From SimHQ

From DriverHeaven

From Rage3D

From Tom's Hardware

From Tech-Report

From GamersDepot

From FiringSquad

 

[LeeTJ]

Judging by our performance evaluation we'd say that the 9800 Pro is roughly 20% faster (than the 9700 Pro) in most of the tests that actually count.

is it me or would that make it a bit faster than a GeForce FX.

 

[kuk]

What article is supposed to be up tonight at Anands?
Is it the R9800?

Edit:
Core clock speed: 378 MHz
Memory clock speed: 675 MHz / 21.1 GB/s

Hmmmm .... 3ns ram?

 

[Eug]

And another!

 

[NFS4]

http://simhq.com/simhq3/hardware/previews/radeon_9800/

 

[FuManStan]

YAY

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: NFS4
http://simhq.com/simhq3/hardware/previews/radeon_9800/

Radeon? 9800 Pro 256MB (reference board specifications)

worlds first 256MB gamer's video board
core: 380MHz
memory (DDR2): 340MHz DDR or 680MHz effective
full DirectX 9.0 and OpenGL 2.0 support
AGP 4x/8x compatibility
256MB fast DDR2 memory
DVI, TV and CRT
available in April 2003

So it sounds like the other card will be 400/360 as we had thought, not 400/460. I think the DDR2 is a mistake.

 

[Pariah]

Looks like FIC release was a typo, though the first 2 previews have differing memory speed. Nordic has a memory speed of 337.5MHz, while Extremetech has 340MHz. The early #'s don't look particularly overwhelming. Certainly not 40% improvement. Let's hope there is a 9900 coming.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Here's another.

Edit: Good chart highlighting differences between FX 5800U and 9800PRO

 

[Snoop]

Originally posted by: Pariah
Looks like FIC release was a typo, though the first 2 previews have differing memory speed. Nordic has a memory speed of 337.5MHz, while Extremetech has 340MHz. The early #'s don't look particularly overwhelming. Certainly not 40% improvement. Let's hope there is a 9900 coming.

Exactly, I thought this card was supposed to pull another 9700 on nvidia. Judging by the increase in performance the FX has received with the latest drivers, I would say that it is still a dead heat. Then again, this card doesnt need a blowdryer motor to stay cool

 

[kuk]

And another @ HardOCP

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: kuk
And another @ HardOCP

The GeforceFX says OUCH! With everything at max in UT2003, the 9800 Pro is 2.4X faster than the GeForceFX.

By the way, prices:

Radeon 9600 64-128 MB: $149+
Radeon 9600 Pro 128 MB: $169+
Radeon 9800 128 MB: $349
Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB: $399
Radeon 9800 Pro 256 MB: Far too rich for my blood.

 

[Spicedaddy]

380/340 ?


///runs Radeonator....clicks OK



Waddup!! I have a 9800 PRO!!

 

[chizow]

Its a Tachyon!!!

There do seem to be some improvements though, like the mem controllers in high resolution AA and AF settings. Also, the PS and stencil buffer optimizations should definitely help in future games like Doom 3. No real surprise about the perf. increases in 3DMark2K3, as I've OC'd my card to those levels and known those results for some time already.

Chiz

 

[GTaudiophile]

From HardOCP:

The highest stable core overclock with no artifacts that I was able to reach is 440Mhz. The highest stable memory overclock with no artifacts that I was able to reach is 370Mhz (740Mhz DDR). At these speeds the HSF remained only warm to the touch, it didn?t burn my like the GeForceFX does...

...The biggest question, when will this card actually ship, and the answer is this month, March. That means that video card prices will be tumbling and changing and it is hard to think that ATi has not just covered up entire end of a market segment. With ATi 9800s, 9700s, and 9500s out for sale it is going to be hard to choose anything else when it comes to playing games.

 

[human2k]

Originally posted by: kuk
And another @ HardOCP

I like how the score bars for the Geforce FX keeps getting shorter and shorter with each game......

 

[KhoiFather]

It's bloody amazing!

 

[GTaudiophile]

Rage3D looks at Radeon 9800, 9600, 9200.

 

[kuk]

Tom's Conclusion:

The Radeon 9800 PRO makes an impressive showing, nullifying the slim lead NVIDIA's FX 5800 Ultra held over the Radeon 9700 PRO. While the newcomer achieves parity with the NVIDIA card in standard tests, it totally dominates the FX 5800 Ultra when it comes to FSAA and anisotropic filtering. Additionally, the ATi cards offer the better FSAA/aniso implementation in our comparison. It remains to be seen whether this will change with future driver updates from NVIDIA. We'll take a closer look at image quality on both cards as soon as we have WHQL (or final) drivers for these cards.

In addition to its more compact design (single-slot solution) and its simpler (and much quieter) cooler, the Radeon 9800 PRO is also much faster than the FX 5800 Ultra in all important disciplines (FSAA, anisotropic filtering) and offers the best image quality with those features enabled. If you're looking for the fastest 3D accelerator currently available, the Radeon 9800 PRO is your chip. This doesn't make the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra a bad product by any means, but the leadership is once again firmly in ATi's hands.

Owners of a Radeon 9700 PR need not worry, though. Their card has not suddenly become obsolete because of the Radeon 9800 PRO. While there is a difference between the two, it isn't a dramatic one, and certainly nowhere near enough to justify an upgrade, in our opinion.

We'd be harder pressed to make any recommendations on the Radeon 9500's successor, the 9600 PRO. Judging from the specs, it looks like the 4x1 design will probably be slower than the older 9500 with its 8x1 design, despite the clockspeed advantage (400MHz vs. 275MHz). We will only be able to answer that conclusively once we have a review sample, though.

Don't hold your breath for any surprises where the Radeon 9200 is concerned though. This chip offers nothing new over its predecessor, aside from an AGP8x interface.

The way it looks, the mainstream segment promises to stay interesting for a while yet, especially considering that NVIDIA is set to launch its own mainstream products, based on the GeForce FX technology. Stay tuned for more!

Link ... images are not up, neither is the front page link.

 

[NFS4]

Cha Ching!

 

[Bovinicus]

The gains are just enough that ATi can retain the undisputed performance crown. As it stands now, you can say that the FX is the better performer, but this is not true in an overwhelming majority of cases. AA and AF is too important at this stage in the game to ignore performance with those settings enabled. However, it can still be disputed because the FX doesn't always lose out with FSAA/AA, but the 9700 loses pretty consistently without either enabled. It looks like a nice little boost, but nothing amazing. As long as it puhses the 9700 Pro below the $200 mark in the next few months, I will be happy.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Dunno what to say about RV350. The 8 pipelines of the 9500 PRO sure make it tempting, through the 9600 PRO will debut for less.

 

[paralazarguer]

To be honest, this isn't the matchup that's got us licking our chops-- that won't occur until we've got a Radeon 9800 Pro and an NV35 ready to duke it out later this year. That bout will be one for the ages, since NV35 appears to address some of the key design concerns of the NV30, and we can't wait to see who prevails.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: paralazarguer

To be honest, this isn't the matchup that's got us licking our chops-- that won't occur until we've got a Radeon 9800 Pro and an NV35 ready to duke it out later this year. That bout will be one for the ages, since NV35 appears to address some of the key design concerns of the NV30, and we can't wait to see who prevails.

From what I've heard, NV35 is simply monstrous...and I do mean MONSTROUS. ATi had better have R400 ready.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Has NV35 truly taped out already?